Grate for kilns or furnaces.



Patentd Sept. 9, I902,

.1. w. TA YLOR. GRATE F08 KILNS 0R FURNACES.

' [Application filed. May 8, 1902.)

"(No Mode h) will not drop from the grate.

UNITED STATES I ATENT OFFICE.

JOHN V. TAYLOR, OF SUMMERVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA.

GRATE FOR KILNS QR FURNACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 708,938, dated September 9, 1902. Application filed May 3. 1902. seen No. 105,805. -(No model.)

To ttZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Summerville, in the county of Dorchester and State of South Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Grates for Kilns or Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to grates for kilns and furnaces, and is especially designed for use in connection with kilns or furnaces employing wood as a fuel; and it has for its 0b- 3' eat to provide a novel grate wherein the gratesurfaces are composed of ordinary buildingbricks of the usual standard size, the gratesupporting bars being so constructed and arranged that each individual brick is supported against movement inevery direction, whereby should a brick suffer a simple fracture the parts will be retained in place and Also should the brick be so badly broken that it drops from the grate the security of the other bricks will not be affected It has for its further object to provide novel means for supporting the grate in place.

Finally, it has for its object to improve the construction and enhance the durability and efficiency of this class of grates generally.

To these ends my invention consists in the features and in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims following the description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, wherein- Figure lis a perspective view of one of the grate-supporting bars, two of the bricks being shown in place. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the grate. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sec tional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. t

Broadly, my improved grate comprises a plurality of metallic grate-supporting bars arranged transversely in the fire-chamber and a plurality of ordinary building-bricks of standard size arranged longitudinally of the fire-chamber and supported on and between the grate-supporting bars in such manner that said bricks are firmly and securely held against movement in every direction.

Referring more particularly to Fig. l of the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates one of my improved grate-supporting bars. As shown, said bar consists of a fiat bar of metal rectan gular in cross-section and preferably'about four times as high asit is wide, although the dimensions of the bar may obviously be varied without departing in any degree from my invention. Formed on each side of the bar lare horizontal and laterally projecting ribs or flanges 2, the upper surfaces of said ribs or flanges being preferably disposed about one and one-half inches below the upper edge of the bar 1. Formed on the opposite sides of the bar 1, on the upper sides of the flanges 2, are rectangularlugs 3, the tops of said lugs preferably lying in the same horizontal plane with the top of the bar 1 and the outer faces of said lugs lying in the same vertical planes as the outer edges of the ribs or flanges 2. The lugs 3 are so disposed that each lug on one side of the bar lies directly opposite a corresponding lug on the opposite side of said bar, and the lugs are so disposed that the recesses or interstices 4 which intervene between each two adjacent lugs Will each be approximately equal in width to the thickness of a brick. On the bottom edge of the bar 1 are formed depending teats or tenons 5, which are adapted to be fitted in the upperends of hollow standards 6, which latter may conveniently consist of iron-pipe sections. The end or the front and rear gratesupporting bars 1 are provided on their'inner sides only with a lateral flange or rib 2 and with lugs 3, the tops of the said grate-supporting bar 1 being extended upward a sufficient distance to lie flush with the tops or upper surfaces of the bricks.

In constructing and assembling my improved grate the hollow standards 6 are first fitted overthe depending lugs 5, and the gratesupporting bars are then arranged transversely in the fire-chamber at such distance tubular standards 6, the bottoms of which latter rest upon the bottom of the ashpit. The bricks 7 are then placed in position, the ends of the bricks being fitted in the recesses 4 between the lugs 3 and the upper sides of the grate-supporting bars 1, the distance between the upper surfaces of the ribs or flanges 2 and the tops of the grate-supporting bars being such that when the bricks are placed in position the upper surfaces or top edges of said bricks will project a suitable distance above the upper surfaces of the grate-supporting bars, whereby the fuel does not come in contact with said bars and the latter are protected from excessive heat. The ends of the bricks at the front and rear of the grate, however, lie flush with the tops of the front and rear grate-supporting bars 1 in the manner before described, whereby the ends of said bricks are protected against fracture and breakage during the operation of feeding the wood into the furnace. By arranging the bricks in the manner described a smooth grate-surface is provided, with no projections to interfere with the ready and convenient introduction of the sticks of wood, and by means of which an uninterrupted draft-space from front to rear of the furnace is provided. This causes the wood to burn uniformly from one end to the other, while in the old bars heretofore commonly in use there is a closed space running transversely across the middle of the grate from which no draft can pass on account of the solid bar employed to support the grate-bars which have solid ends, thus preventing the free circulation of air and causing the wood to burn out on each end while the center remains unconsumed, caus ing an accumulation of charcoal. Moreover, in the improved arrangement above described should one of the bricks suffer a simple fracture the parts of the fractured brick will be retained in place as though the fracture had not occurred, for in order to permit the two broken parts of the brick to drop from their place in the grate it is necessary that said parts should separate, or, in other words, that said parts should have a slight endwise movement away from one another, and this is manifestly impossible in myimproved grate, for the ends of the bricks are closely confined between the proximate sides of the adjacent grate-supporting bars, whereby the parts are prevented from having any endwise movement away one from the other. In like manner the lugs 3 prevent any lateral movement of the bricks, so that the two parts of a broken brick are prevented from having any movement one relatively to the other, and hence they cannot separate and therefore cannot drop from place. Should, however, one of the bricks be so badly broken up that the parts will not support one another, and therefore drop from place, such accident will not affect the safety or the security of the other bricks in any manner whatsoever, as each individual brick is supported at its ends, on its bottom edge, and on its opposite sides, and entirely independently of the other bricks or of the means for supporting said other bricks in place. Hence when one broken brick drops from place the other uninjured bricks will be retained securely in place as though the said brick had not been broken. In the arrangement described the supporting-bars accommodate the usual and ordinary wellknown buildingbricks of standard size, which may be readily purchased on the market in all localities, so that injured or worthless bricks may be readily replaced at small cost with almost no labor and with almost infinitesimal expenditure of time. Furthermore, by supporting the grate-bars in the manner described when one or more of said bars become unsuitable for further. use they may be quickly removed and new bars substituted without disarranging the entire grate, and, moreover, by supporting said grate-bars on hollow tubular standards, as described, said standards are protected against warping and other injurious effects of excessive heat.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a grate, the combination with a series of grate-supporting bars each having portions of its length cruciform in cross-section and the remaining portions substantially T-shaped in cross-section and arranged horizontally and parallel with one another, of a plurality of bricks fitted between said bars and supported at their ends thereon, substantially as described.

2. In a grate, the combination with a series of grate-supporting bars arranged horizontally and parallel with one another and each provided on its opposite vertical sides between its top and bottom with longitudinal laterally-projecting ribs or flanges, of a plurality of bricks disposed between the adjacent sides of said bars and resting at their opposite ends on said ribs or flanges, and means for preventing lateral movement of said bricks, substantially as described.

3. In a grate, the combination with a series of grate-supporting bars arranged horizontally and parallel with one another, each of said grate-bars being provided on its opposite vertical sides intermediate its top and bottom with longitudinal ribs or flanges and with lateral projections on the upper sides of said ribs or flanges, of a plurality of bricks arranged between the adjacent sides of said bars, each brick resting at its opposite ends on two of said ribs or flanges and between two of said lugs, substantially as described.

t. In a grate, the combination with a series of grate-supporting bars arranged horizontally and parallel with one another and each provided on its opposite vertical sides intermediate its top and bottom with longitudinal lateral-projecting ribs and with lugs formed on the upper sides of said ribs and the opposite sides of said bars, and a front and rear IIO grate-supporting bar, each provided on its inner side only with a longitudinal laterallyprojecting rib and laterally-projecting lugs formed on the upper side of said rib, and a plurality of bricks fitted between said gratesupporting bars and the said lugs, the upper edges of the front and rear grate-supporting bar lying flush with the upper surfaces of the bricks, substantially as described.

vided with recesses for the reception of the ends of the bricks and provided on their under edges with depending tenons of hollow tubular standards, fitted at their upper ends over said tenons, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN W. TAYLOR.

5. In a grate, the combination with a series Witnesses: of grate-supporting bars arranged horizon- 1 E. H. MAGILL, tally and parallel With one another and pro- S. MARELLO. 

